Breakout session 4: Sunday at 4pm
Breakout sessions will be offered on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and there are many to choose from! They will all be located in the Bricker Academic Building.
There is a specific track of sessions for youth leaders, which is open to adult leaders only.
There is also a track of sessions for young adults who are around grade 12 and in their 20s.
All the other sessions are open to anyone at the gathering, but are specifically planned for the youth!
Youth Leaders:
| Room | Presenter | Topic | Description | Presenter Bio |
| BA-101 | Samantha Neeb | A Conversation with Leaders | This is your chance to advise the Synod. Talk to Samantha about what support you need, as a person who cares for the youth of the church, and for the youth of the church. | Samantha Neeb is a recent graduate of the Director of Parish Services program at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton. In August, she will be starting as the Associate Director – Family Ministries for Lutheran Church – Canada. Samantha grew up near New Hamburg, Ontario, but has spent the last five years living in the west, Vancouver, Edmonton and Central Alberta. She’s excited to be at the National Youth Gathering, it’ll be her seventh one, and if you need someone to go for ice cream with, she’ll volunteer! |
Young Adults:
| Room | Presenter | Topic | Description | Presenter Bio |
| BA-102 | Pastor Peter Knelson and guests | Adulting with Jesus | Growing up comes with big changes—faith, work, and relationships. You probably have a lot of questions as you prepare to graduate from high school. How do we navigate it all while staying strong in Christ? What does it look like to put on the armour of God? How do I stay faithful when the world pulls me away? What does success look like as a Christian? How do I find someone special who shares my faith? What do I do when I feel lost or unsure? Join me and other adults as we discuss the questions you have about growing up and maturing in this world while putting on the armour of God. | Pastor Peter Knelson grew up in Saskatchewan, where youth gatherings played a pivotal role in shaping his faith and fostering friendships. Although he never had the chance to attend a National Youth Gathering as a youth, he’s making up for it now—serving as the MC for the 2025 NYG! His hope is that today’s youth will find this gathering just as impactful, inspiring, and fun as his own experiences. Pastor Peter serves St. John’s Lutheran Church in Warman and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bergheim, Saskatchewan. When he’s not pastoring, he’s helping his wife, Laurel, keep up with their two energetic kids. And when the house finally quiets down, you’ll often find him playing guitar and recording music. He can’t wait to stand alongside you in putting on the full armor of God! |
Youth:
| Room | Presenter | Topic | Description | Presenter Bio |
| BA-110 | Pastor Glenn Worcester | God Loves Broken People | Broken? But I’m strong. Nothing can break me… Except sin breaks things. Ever since the Fall, the world is broken, and the people in it are broken. As a result, there are broken homes, broken families, broken hearts, broken bodies, broken minds, broken lives, broken promises. Even the Church is full of broken people, who break God’s commandments. God is not broken. He fixes what is broken. He is the one who heals and restores, through His means of grace, because He loves broken people, like you, like me. And He can even use broken people for His purposes, for His glory, like you, like me. Come and hear the story about how God worked in the life of a teenager whose family was broken by divorce, who turned to anorexia, amongst other things, to prove he was not broken as everything else was falling apart… when in fact, he was completely shattered. Yet, God still loved him, picked up the pieces and restored them one by one, as only He can do. Come with questions about your own circumstances, and hear the Good News of God’s unbreakable love for you, and how He can use you to reach other broken people. | Pastor Glenn is originally from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Concordia University in Ann Arbor; Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne; did his Vicarage at Immanuel Lutheran in Lethbridge; and served as a pastor in Michigan until coming to Peace Lutheran Church in Winnipeg in 2012. Pastor Glenn was the main speaker at the 2019 “Worthless” NYG, and enjoys talking about Jesus, playing board games and sports, music, spending time with his family, and the color pink. Pastor Glenn met his wife Andrea at the 2007 “I Am” NYG in Ottawa. They have three lovely children: Micah (born on the first day of the 2016 NYG, and will celebrate on the last day of this NYG), Ivy, and Jonah. |
| BA-111 | Richard Fangrad | The Age of the Earth from the Bible and Science | Could there be scientific evidence for a young earth and universe? What processes could produce features that appear to be million of years old? What is the biblically deduced age of the earth? How does an old or young earth impact our lives? | Richard is CEO of Creation Ministries-Canada, and producer and co-host of the weekly, half-hour TV show Creation Magazine LIVE!. Richard has been speaking on the creation/evolution issue since 1994. The Canadian CMI office began as a room in his home in late 1998. As a speaker, he is known for his easy-to-understand scientific presentations. Richard grew up in a Christian home but by high school he had many unanswered questions about creation, Genesis and the accuracy of the Bible that greatly hindered his spiritual growth. This began to change in 1994 after hearing Dr Carl Wieland (from CMI-Australia) and subscribing to Creation magazine, and reading other resources on apologetics. Richard’s education and professional training is in electronics and he had the privilege of working on some of the most technologically advanced electronics for more than a decade before joining CMI. Richard is married and lives in Kitchener, Ontario with his wife and 5 children. |
| BA-201 | Dcn. Michael Gillingham | LGBTQIA2S+: What does this mean? | We live in a time and culture where people are asking huge questions about sexuality, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identities. It can be a little confusing to sort out the new terminology, especially when some of it is constantly changing and being updated. We’ll do a brief review of the different terms and ideas represented by LGBTQIA2S+. We’ll follow this up with a conversation about ways that Christian young people and adults can respond to these new ideas and conversations. (youth) | Dcn. Michael Gillingham is a rostered deacon (DPS) in LCC who has served for thirty years in youth ministry, young adult ministry, and music ministry in congregations in western Canada. He has more recently shifted into a new job where he serves as “missionary deacon” with LAMP (Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots). Michael currently works with northern communities and with teams from churches in Canada and the US who seek to provide ministry to kids and adults in these communities. Michael’s interest in questions surrounding gender and sexuality emerged as he worked with youth and families and also as he attended graduate school at a local public university. Michael is hoping that his presentations will provide some helpful information and suggestions for engaging with these questions in positive ways. Michael is a husband, father, father-in-law, and grandfather as well as a songwriter and sports fan (go Elks!! go Oilers!!). He is a long time supporter of the LCC National Youth Gathering and is glad to be able to attend and present there this year. |
| BA-202 | Dcn. Amanda Hastings, Rev. Michael Schtuz, Dr. Alex Vieira, and seminarians Hyunsoo Lee and Andrew Hayes | To Church Work and Beyond! | You see them on Sunday morning and maybe during Youth Group but what do Pastors and Deacons do on the other 5 days? Ever wonder what you would have to do if you wanted to become a Pastor or Deacon? And really…what’s the deal with the white robe? Come find out the answer to these questions and more with our dream team panel of different church workers who are eager to share their love of Christ and vocation with you. | Dcn. Amanda Hastings is currently serving as a Deacon (Director of Parish Services) at Good Shepherd Lutheran in Regina SK. She has been serving professionally in the church since 2010 and is always excited to share about the many and various ways that we all can serve in the Church (beware, once you get her started talking it’s hard to get her to stop!) She is married with a 10 year old daughter and a 6 year old son. She loves Jesus, the colour purple, coffee and owls. Pastor Michael is a child of God, husband, and father of four. He serves as Lead Pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church in Penticton, BC and as Vice-President of LCC. He has also served in LCC and LCMS as a Deacon (DPS). He grew up with VCRs, cassette tapes, and rotary phones, and so he has seen an immense amount of change in the technology we use every day. He tries to help the church be wise as we use tech tools to serve the work of God’s kingdom. Pastor Michael is a musician and sports fan (go Riders!), and enjoys family camping trips and hanging out in the sunny Okanagan of BC. Dr. Alex Vieira serves as professor of Exegetical Theology, teaching courses on the Bible and biblical languages, at Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton. He is married to Celiane (“Sally”) Vieira and they have a 9-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son. He is Brazil and lived for seven years in the US during graduate studies, where he was involved as a volunteer in cross-cultural ministries, specially with people who came from Nepal and Bhutan, and also had a Bible study in his house, twice a month, for Brazilians who were new to St. Louis. He has been in Canada since 2021. Before moving here, he was a pastor in Southern Brazil for a few years, and a big part of his ministry was with the youth (ages 12-18) and with young adults (ages 19-40). He also taught online for Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and was an adjunct professor for Seminário Concórdia, in Brazil. |
| BA-208 | Pastor Scott Brayall | Freedom to Play | Because we live united to Christ in our Baptism, we are set free to live and enjoy this world God has given to us. Yet, as we all experience, life comes with many responsibilities that feel burdensome and so play as we knew it as children seems too often to fall to the wayside. This breakout session, bringing together games and activities from the improvised theatre world, will allow and encourage all participants to simply play—we will act as different characters; we will build made-up stories; we will enjoy time just being silly. No theatre experience is necessary—everyone is welcome. | Pastor Scott is Assistant Pastor at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Red Deer, Alberta. Married to Becky, they have two boys, Herschel and Lionel. They frequent coffee shops more than anyone should legally be allowed to, probably. Pastor Scott enjoys playing trumpet and guitar and rarely stops singing, and he loved spending time on the stage, but that has been more than a few years—so you should join him in the breakout sessions and see how rusty he is! He has been your (co)MC at previous NYG and IMPACT Youth Gatherings, but this time he’s enjoying being a 7+1 leader among other roles. He’s overjoyed that you are at the NYG that you may know just how graciously and wonderfully your God equips you—the faith that He has given to you will surely protect you through this life into life everlasting. |
| BA-209 | Lutheran Laymen’s League of Canada, Lutheran Bible Translators Canada, Concordia Lutheran Mission Society, and the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society | How can they believe if they have not heard? | As Christians we are given the great blessing of knowing Christ and His great works. But what about those who don’t know God? How do we help? Join in a lively discussion with four different mission groups that help bring the love of Christ into the world. Represented in this panel will be the Lutheran Laymen’s League of Canada, Lutheran Bible Translators Canada, Concordia Lutheran Mission Society, and the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society. | |
| BA-210 | Pastor Eric Moffett | Pop Culture | “Pop culture:” we see these two words at almost every youth gathering. Why? What’s there still to learn about it? Pop culture really is a discussion on the ways by which the world, outside of the classroom, is communicating to us. Music, movies, ads, TikTok, IG, TV, ads, YouTube, Twitch, news, ads, etc. all are ways by which thoughts and ideas are communicated to us. Thoughts about who you are, who you ought to be, where you should go, what you should do and what you should think. And whether we like it or not, we are all listening. So let’s learn how to listen, and talk about our favourite movies, music, influencers, video games etc. | Pastor Eric is pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Beach Corner, Alberta. He is married to the incredible Kayla and is proud and tired dad to their twins Wesley and Wren. He spent 10 years doing outreach ministry on the University of Calgary campus. He has been a part of Youth Gathering committees for 20+ years. He loves slo pitch, hot takes, movies, games, competitions, musicals, and he’s a 2025 Activate Champion…goodness he sounds so “cool”. Find him, say hi, get your team some points. |
| BA-211 | Prayer Walk | Need a break from the breakouts? Come take part in our prayer walk and find some quiet time actively in prayer. | The prayer walk was organized by Pastor Eric, and the room will be staffed by Minions during the breakout sessions. |